Multiplayer
Multiplayer is a game type offered by almost all the games in the Black Hearts series where players get a chance to test their skills against other players across the world. The multiplayer component of Black Hearts has recieved extensive critical acclaim for its character customization, online missions, and detailed content. Overview The multiplayer for the original Black Hearts ran on Q Games Online along with Project: Akin and Age of Zaram, but recent releases (Catacylsm ''and ''Darkness Rising) run on specialized Q Games servers. The multiplayer engine for Black Hearts was the same for Bounty Hunters (which released new models, weapons, maps and game types), and Darkness Rising Online is similarly an expansion to the Cataclysm network. For multiplayer, players get an oppurtunity to create their own character. This is, by default, the user that is playing the campaign. Their character can belong to any species, and have different colored armor. Each player character is allotted 5 class slots, each slot having slight boosts and advantages (i.e. jetpacks, extra grenade pouches, etc.) Default weapons depend on the actual game being played. Player characters have ranks and statistics that are recorded, beginning from Recruit to General (This differs in Bounty Hunter matches). Players can access LAN (Local Area Network) or Online matches after confirming their character. They can enter pre-existing matches (until they are full; there is a maximum of 32 human players) or start their own. Mapmaking requires picking a gametype, a time limit and some other settings of the map (such as weapon spawns). Once they create the server, other players can be allowed to join (if they know the password) and the game begins. Players can also create playlists, where pre-determined maps are played in succession. Gametypes There are a diverse amount of gametypes out there to suit the tastes of any player, and many new ones have been released through the expansion of the Black Hearts saga. *Deathmatch: The most basic gametype, it is a every man for himself scenario where the only objective is to get the most kills by the end of the game (default 20 minutes). *Team Deathmatch: Pinning gamers against each other in up to four different teams, players must coordinate efforts with allies to strategically take out as many enemy players as they can. *Capture the Flag: Teams have a flag located at their base that they must defend from the enemy, but must also aim to steal their opponents at the same time. *Seige: The primary objective of this gametype is to infiltrate the enemy's base, and completely destroy it by blowing down pillars, hacking the mainframe, bombarding it with tanks, and obliterating defenses. But don't forget, you have to defend your own base from attack as well. * King of the Hill: There is a designated tower to capture somewhere in the map. Hold it for the longest time and defeat your enemies trying to capture it. *Hunt: Hunt is a special gametype introduced in Bounty Hunters that is similar to deathmatch, but there are specialized target players for each player. Killing a non-target player will not earn any points. Beware, while you are looking for someone, you may be hunted down too... *Team Hunt: Another gametype from Bounty Hunters, there are four different teams, and each team has a corresponding enemy. Like a circle, you may be the green team hunting down the red team, but are being attacked by the blue team. The yellow team has no effect on you. *SpecOps: Introduced in Bounty Hunters, Every player on the team has boosted health and shields, but each base has extremely dangerous defensive fortifications. The objective is to move through secret passages and not be sighted by enemy turrets and snipers. Once at the enemy base, the player must destroy their mainframe. *Assassins: This Bounty Hunters gametype is based off of SpecOps. Players can only use light ranged and melee weaponry. Each team has a target player bot, and they must find and kill the enemy's while hiding from the defenses. *Boarding: Introduced in Cataclysm, this can only be played on spaceship maps. One team has to defend from the ship and the other team must capture the ship in a set amount of lives. *Zombies: Another Cataclysm gametype, one player is chosen to be Reborn (distinguished by an obviously gruesome appearance and tattoos). They have boosted speed, health, and attack. The objective for them is to convert all living players into Reborn zombies, and the last man standing wins the game. *Mission: Cataclysm introduced this special gametype. Players can create teams that play special downloadable levels from Q Games. The missions were simply modelled after classic gametypes (team deathmatch, assassins) followed the story of the player's special operations team and dealt with the Kelim Hierarchy's mysterious fortress known as the Abyss. The story of the stranded team continue in Darkness Rising's new season of Missions. *War-World: Player teams must defend weapons caches in this Cataclysm game type, which routinely generate points for the player. They generate less and less points the more damaged they are, so it is crucial to defend them from enemy saboteurs. There is extremely plentiful weaponry and ammunition in this game type, so it is a full out battle. *Space: This extremely detailed Cataclysm gametype allows players to pilot corvettes and other ships in the all new space maps, and try to sink as many enemy players as they can. If enough landing vessels make it to the enemy mothership, a Boarding game automatically is initiated. If the Space game mode is selected, four subtypes of gameplay can be played (Space Deathmatch, Team Space Deathmatch, Space Capture the Flag, Space King of the Kill). *Invasion: A very popular Cataclysm gametype, teams must try to conquer the entire map by capturing special command posts scattered acros it. From there, they can choose different spawn points and call bot reinforcements. *Ritual: A Darkness Rising gametype, teams must reach a target location and guard it for 30 seconds, once a ritual is performed and a random player from the team becomes very powerful (extreme boosts to statistics and magical abilities). Only one team can have a ritual player at a time, so it is important that the ritual location be captured quickly. *Escape: Another Darkness Rising gametype, in Escape, teams must race to a transport gunship located somewhere on the map. There are specific checkpoints the teams must capture before doing so, so it is important to maintain the lead while crushing the other teams. Character Creation The first thing the player must select is a species to play as. This does not affect gameplay, simply appearance. The original Black Hearts allowed players to select Human male, Kynzghai or Rovoen. Bounty Hunters expanded this to Human female, Feghan and Android (modelled off of a Titan/Ahmad). Cataclysm added Yusrin, Mhijan and Mollika. Darkness Rising introduced Rentauri and Certoen. For each species, (skin) color can be changed (and for humans, hair color). The Venture Expansion for Cataclysm introduced the Ne'Kog species, which is unique because it restricts the player to melee weapons, but gives a boost to speed and health. Armour is based off of the variety of uniforms and exosuits found in the Black Hearts universe. The default armour for each of them varies (Human-Marine, Kynzghai-Pirate, Rovoen-Battle Suit, Feghan-Bounty Hunter, Android-R-325, Yusrin-Hierarchy Battle Suit, Mhijan-Hierarchy Battle Suit, Mollika-Marine). Armour can be extensively customized, along with helmets and gear (such as shoulder pads, spikes, backpacks, etc.). Most armour is available at the beginning, but some can only be earned by getting in-game medals (such as the Skull Helmet, earned from 45 headshots in one Black Hearts level). A few have to be bought by Q Game points (such as the Exalted Armour, which only the best clans have). Lastly, some armour is available for download as holiday or special celebration (i.e. the Dead Men Hood released on the eve of the release of Darkness Rising). There are different design patterns that are painted on armour, and they can be changed alongside the colors. In team games, shoulder pads and knee pads automatically change to the team's color, and the player has a trim in that color as well. An icon for the player can be created to represent the player on the minimap and in other player's viewscreens. This is in the colors of the armour and the team. Icons can range from the Triangle of Velconu to a trollface. The player can select different voice commands (i.e. "Let's move out!", "Follow me.", "I need backup!", etc.) that are assigned to number keys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 on a keyboard. These are very useful in tactical gametypes such as Assassins. Using the default controls for a keyboard, players can chat to their team by pressing T, and everyone by pressing Y. Votes for map selection, kicking players and general topics can be conducted with P to launch a vote, [ to vote yes, and ] to vote no. Player statistics that are recorded are Points, Kills, Deaths, KDR, Headshots, Assists and Ranking. By these statistics, players are ranked on the Bounty Hunters List accessable from the online lobby. There is a very basic social aspect of multiplayer, as players have an inbox where messages and game requests can be sent to other players, and players can add friends to a clan. Clans are groups of skilled or specialized players who usually play with each other. Q Games holds special Clan Tournaments between the top ranking clans online to determine who the best of the best are. By playing tough tournaments with pro gamer clans, or a casual deathmatch with friends, players can earn points used to unlock new armour and designs. A forum for game topics, general inquiry and clan discussions is also accessable in the game lobby. Maps Since the release of the first game, maps have continuously been added or retextured. Maps have four different categories - small, medium, large, and arena (in order of ascending size). Black Hearts - The Original Game *Hassendor - L - A quiet, grassy wilderness with a rolling terrain and mountains in the distance. There are two colonial settlements located on opposite sides of the map (Four in team games). *Chasm - L - Based off of the underground complex sealed away under the icy surface of Ro, this puzzling maze of passages and rooms allows for great games of King of the Hill. *Cairo - A - The old mud streets of vast eastern Cairo are perfect for gritty firefights and sniping action. Two central roads link the gigantic city. *Sanctuary- M - The planet X-115 is eerily empty. Six main buildings dot the roads, all made makeshift bases for the resistance against the Punishers. *Wanderer - M - The original Wanderer, it is a typical naval battlecruiser with all the major facilities and armouries. From Cataclysm on, this map is based off of the inside of a Rammernaught ''style battlecruiser, and has a boarding dock. *Choosing - S - A snowy, holographic forest originally created to test Rovoen. The Darkness Rising graphics update shows a virtual ripple when meleeing trees in this forest. *Titan - M - A Velconi labratory on Mars. A mix between a facility and rocky caverns, pods containing Titans are scattered all over the place. Black Hearts - Bounty Hunters *Dagesta - A - The massive network of streets and buildings surrounding the Velconi warlord compound are perfect hiding places for skilled assassins. Be careful. *Cantina - M - The bar on Vega station is a bounty hunter's paradise. There are several closed discussion rooms for negotiating - or one-on-one brawls. *Kemper Havel - L - One of the most famous Black Hearts maps, Kemper's largest city is full of poor slums and old alleyways. *Cartel - S - A single street in New Kazan, is it one hell of a way to the other side. *Tower - A - A vertical map, a dozen floors seperate you from your enemy. And beware - you ''can ''get thrown out the Governor's window. *Area 51 - M - A top-secret, heavily defended scientific base that holds an ancient secret. There are four different bases in assault-style gametypes. *Glacias - M - Frigid temperatures on the snowy outside, there is a large underground system of mining platforms. Watch out for falling rocks and sudden earthquakes which may knock you off your platform. *Dystopia - L - The town square of a future anarchist Las Vegas, a creepy setting for a firefight. There are several ruined buildings to take refuge in around the central statue of Nemo. *Himalayas - L - In the peaks of what will become the Indo-Australian states, fight a breathtaking battle prone to sudden landslides, storms, and "accidental" slips. Black Hearts - Cataclysm *Citadel - A - The Kelim Hierarchy has arrived, and so the massive mobile station of cities drifts across the Milky Way. It is very easy to get lost on this map. *Quarantine - M - New Kazan is falling to the Reborn infestation. The abandoned towers of the east of the city have become a battleground. *Lunar - L - A massive Velconi base of operations on the moon. A base of this size, what, are they keeping a ''dragon down there? *Contact - M - A jungle planet where the first battle to defend the Near-Earth Sector begins. Hierarchy ships are seen in the distant sky. There is a central waterfall, and a river dividing each camp. Black Hearts - Cataclysm Venture Expansion *New Havana - A - The Hierarchy have launched an assault on Venture. The planet's capital city has become a massive urban warzone that accommodates any fighting style, from sniping to pulling off risky aerial maneuvers. *Venture Lowlands - L - The vast lowlands provide little natural cover aside from trees and rocks. With wide open airspace and plenty of high-priority facilities, this region is perfect for dogfights. *Delta Base - M - A Velconi military base on Venture with tight hallways, research laboratories and the large central hangar. Squad Designations Black Hearts: Darkness Rising introduced team coordination to multiplayer. Team coordination is an optional feature where members of a team could be given designations, which give them a small boost. It is usually found enabled for matches like SpecOps, which promote and often require cooperation. List of Designations *Assault Specialist: Minor damage increase *Heavy Weapons Specialist: Splash damage increase *Tech Specialist: Speed boost for interactions with objectives (hacking, holding the hill, etc) *Sniper: Reduced recoil when scoped in *Scout: Increased movement speed *Medic: Increased healing from using medkits on self and others *Escort: Minor health increase *Grenadier: Can carry one more grenade than other players Note: If the number of players is less or equal to the total number of designations, then the designations cannot be reused. Otherwise, the number of times a designation can be reused is scaled to the number of players in the match.